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Russell Tribunal on Palestine urges Israel to free Marwan Barghouti

An image of Marwan Barghouti painted on the separation wall In a letter sent to the Israeli President, Shimon Peres, the Russell Tribunal on Palestine has urged him to free Palestinian political prisoner and Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. This would ma …

In a letter sent to the Israeli President, Shimon Peres, the Russell Tribunal on Palestine has urged him to free Palestinian political prisoner and Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. This would make it possible for Barghouti to participate in the Tribunal’s closing session, which will take place in Brussels on 16 and 17 March.

Today, rumours from Palestinian officials say Israel will release 550 political prisoners, including Barghouti himself, on the occasion of the US president Barack Obama’s visit to Tel Aviv next month. It’s not the first time that such bold statements appear in the media, without being followed by concrete action from the Israeli government.

That is why we are calling on Peres to make a powerful gesture which would be a groundbreaking milestone to prove Israeli’s willingness to turn its back on decades of abuses and violence towards the Palestinians.

In the letter, the Russell Tribunal has also invited president Peres to participate in its Brussels session, to defend Israeli’s reasons in front of the jury and to make the case for Israel.

Freeing Barghouti and letting him be present at the final Tribunal’s gathering would be an historic event, one as important as when former South African president De Klerk made the decision to free Nelson Mandela, on 11 February 1990.

“The Russell Tribunal, in its five years of activities, has shown how Israel, with the complicity of third parties such as the EU and the United States, is enforcing policies of apartheid and persecution towards the Palestinians, that are resulting in an actual sociocide”, said Pierre Galand, the Russell Tribunal General Coordinator.

“Putting an end to such crimes is long overdue. By freeing Barghouti and letting him join our Brussels session, and by participating himself, Peres has the unprecedented chance to put his money where is mouth is, and prove that Israel really wants a just resolution of the conflict and ultimately peace for all, be them Israelis or Palestinians.”

Walton Pantland

South African trade unionist living in Glasgow. Loves whisky, wine, running and the great outdoors. Walton did an MA in Industrial Relations at Ruskin, Oxford, and is interested in how trade unions use new technology to organise.